War on terrorism: ‘US does not intend to leave Afghanistan’
Afghan media men say Pak-Afghan relations based on threats common to the two countries.
America has no plans to leave Afghanistan and will continue its presence there in one form or the other. Although Afghanistan has nothing to lose from a prolonged war but the threat is more real for Pakistan and for Iran. This was the opinion of a seven-member Afghan media delegation that visited Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) here on Tuesday, said a press release issued by the institute.
The institute’s acting president Dr Maqsudul Hasan Nuri briefed the Afghan media men on the working of the think-tank.
The visiting journalists said that the war was a part of US policy which provided it an excuse to prolong its stay in Afghanistan.
The impression that the US would be leaving Afghanistan was wrong since all that was going to happen in the name of exit would be a change in the nature of American presence there.
They said America was not interested in ending the conflict, because then there would be pressure in the region for their withdrawal.
They said Pakistan and Afghanistan should bury their hatchets for the time being to help bring the war to an end, as that would be good for the whole region.
(Read: ‘AfPak’ post-US withdrawal)
The delegates said that in fact, Mulla Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, had sent a delegation to Kabul to congratulate Hamid Karzai on assuming charge as President of Afghanistan, which virtually meant the recognition of the new setup and end of the insurgency. But American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) forces started arresting the Taliban who had gone back to their villages. This revived the insurgency.
The media representatives also emphasized that the Afghan conflict should not be seen as an ethnic problem between the Pushtuns and the non-Pashtuns.
They said that Pakistan should eschew this ethnic division from its calculations as Afghans are a nation. The Taliban are not a Pashtun-ethnic entity but a group of religious extremists who have an agenda of their own, similar to the agenda of the Punjabi Taliban, they added.
The delegates said that the nature of Pak-Afghan relations has changed in recent years, from what it was before the present phase of war.
The relationship is now based on the common threats the two countries face, and hence require closer ties through people-to-people contacts rather than through media reports, they added.
The Afghan media delegation comprised daily Weesa Editor-in-Chief Fazal Elahi Shafiqi, Shamshad TV Managing Director Naseem Pashtoon, Persian daily Afghanistan Editor Muhammad Raza Haweda, political analyst and Kabul News channel Chairman Ghulam Jilani Zwak, Noor TV Director Noor Rehman Ikhlaqi, Fardar TV Director Sardar Muhammad Rahimi and Pajhwok News Agency Editor Fazal Rahman Muzhary.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2011.